A McDonald Family Owned and Operated Dealership

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A couple of weeks ago, we tried out the new mobile phone app by CarFax. Now, not only can you instantly do a background check (for free) on any prospective auto purchase, you can keep track of all of your cars in your virtual ‘garage’, including their maintenance schedules, your favorite shops, their estimated repair costs, and your pet names for them.

After you download the app for either your Android or Apple device, you will get a screen giving you the option to find a vehicle based on the VIN, the license plate number, or the QR code.

Once you have entered either one, the app will have you confirm the car you are looking for.

In this case, we were looking at a used 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport that we just got in on trade. Of course, we named it ‘My Precious’. You are free change that name if you decide to make it yours. But we may judge you for it.

You can also upload a photo of your car.

In addition, the app will estimate your car’s mileage. You can manually change it, and the app will then continue to estimate it based upon your driving habits.

You can then go to the Dashboard, which will tell you when the car was last serviced and when it will next be due for service. My Precious is up to date on all of her shots, and her new owner won’t have to worry about a thing for at least another 5 months.

If you want an overview of the Maintenance Schedule, you can look up what is recommended based upon the car’s mileage.

For more detailed information on your car’s past, including any accident repairs, you can check out the Service History tab.

You can then search for Service Shops in your area and choose a favorite.

And, before you head out, you can estimate future Repair Costs based on past service visits so that there’s no big surprises when you get there. My Precious has a squeaky-clean past, so there are currently no estimates available.

You can keep multiple cars in your ‘garage’ and will receive notices for each one when service is due. Finally, you can also delete a car and move on if you find that it has too many ghosts in its past.

Well, QM-ers, this week was my week to write our blog post, and I was going to make it great. I had been planning an article directed at first-time buyers and women about the car-buying process and how to successfully navigate through it taken from my own personal experience, but amidst moving and recovering from a sinus infection, that didn’t happen.

Things don’t always go as planned.

The same can be said for driving. Whenever you get in your vehicle, you plan to get where you’re going safely. You plan to get off work, go to the store, and bring dinner home to your family. You plan to get your skis, head up the mountain, and arrive at the resort with your friends. You plan to get to that interview, that meeting, that party. But sometimes things happen. And, when they do, Mitsubishi has your back.

Check out our video about the Mitsubishi’s 7 Airbag System, which has helped to land our Outlander in the IIHS’s Top Safety Pick Plus this year and our Outlander Sport there for 3 years running, and Mitsubishi’s commercial about other safety features. Our plan is to get you there safely. Our promise is to keep you safe no matter what happens.

Well, guess what, AutoGuide? We read your reasons. We heard your point of view. And now we’re going to tell you why it’s wrong.

Jesse Eisenberg in ‘Zombieland’

1) You criticized the Mirage’s horsepower. We admit that 74 horsepower and 74 pounds of front end torque doesn’t sound like a lot, but let us put it into perspective for you. The curb weight of an automatic Mirage is 2,053 lbs. If you load that up with you and 4 of your friends (more if you get a little creative), a few boxes of supplies, and a bunch of crossbows to kill errant zombies, you might be able to max out the gross vehicle weight rate of 3,020 lbs. That’s super light. We will have plenty of power to outrun zombies simply because we won’t need very much. A manual Mirage is even lighter and is noticeably more zippy and first. But don’t knock the CVT just yet because…

2) The automatic CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission), unlike traditional transmissions, has an infinite series of gears. The Mitsubishi CVT uses a microchip called the INVECS-III that monitors the driving style of the driver and caters the shift points of the CVT to his/her driving style. An aggressive driver–for instance, someone fleeing from an immediate zombie threat–will find that the CVT uses more of the low-end band of the CVT for more front end torque…or more ‘oomph’. However, someone simply trying to make it back to what’s left of civilization after the zombies have been annihilated will use more of the high-end band and get even better gas mileage.

3) Speaking of gas mileage, the 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage is the greenest fully gas-powered vehicle in the United States. That means it gets better gas mileage than any other non-hybrid car out there. Do you really think there are going to be loads of gas stations open and ready to pump gas for your gas-guzzling hot rod, AutoGuide? No. However, on just 9.2 gallons of fuel, the Mirage can go 405 miles on average. Recently, during the Mitsubishi Motors’ Extreme MPG Hypermiling Challenge, a driver from About.com was able to get 74.1 MPG on his trip from Las Vegas to Cypress, CA with only one modification–duct tape over some of the gaps in the front fascia sheet metal as a way to reduce aerodynamic drag. That’s nearly 700 miles on just one tank. So, while everyone else is stranded on a lonely highway in the desert with the undead closing in, we will be well on our way to the coast.

4) And, given that the Mirage is so inexpensive (starting at just $12,995), we’ll still have money left over for a sweet yacht when we get there. Plus, the Mirage is so light, we might as well drive it aboard so that we can drive it back home once this hullabaloo is done and we’ve survived.

5) We will survive, AutoGuide, because in addition to everything we just listed, the Mirage may be small, but it has plenty of ground clearance to get through debris with the nimbleness and stature to successfully navigate zombie hordes without a collision. And if we do hit a snag, the Mirage’s 7 airbag safety system, including one for the driver’s knees, will make sure we survive a zombie-fueled turnover uninjured.